


cause lovers dance when they're feeling in love

by winterkillz



Series: a couple of kids making history [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Again????, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Modern Era, The Invaders, buckytoro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:47:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26016001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterkillz/pseuds/winterkillz
Summary: Adjusting to the modern era was never easy. Toro never thought he’d live through (or in his case,revive) the time where things are becoming more digital and advanced. There's stuff he still doesn’t get —  like emails, and how photos are stored in touch screen cellular phones. What doescellulareven mean?It’s always been confusing, wandering into the unknown. Except he wasn’t alone, and he couldn’t pick a better person to learn with.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Thomas "Toro" Raymond
Series: a couple of kids making history [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888273
Kudos: 5





	cause lovers dance when they're feeling in love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ijustwantplums](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ijustwantplums/gifts).



Adjusting to the modern era was never easy. Toro never thought he’d live through (or in his case, _revive_ ) the time where things are becoming more digital and advanced. There's stuff he still doesn’t get — like emails, and how photos are stored in touch screen cellular phones. What does _cellular_ even mean?

It’s always been confusing, wandering into the unknown. Except he wasn’t alone, and he couldn’t pick a better person to learn with.

Bucky tosses multiple DVD cases on the table. He has a family-sized bag of M&M’s cradled in his arm — since when did chocolate bags get _that_ big? It feels like your whole body can experience a toothache if you ate that in one sitting, which is probably Bucky’s plan. Bucky kick’s Toro’s foot so he can scoot over and give space for him to sit down.

Things might’ve changed and evolved, but James Buchanan Barnes right here never did.

Toro groans and scooches sideways. “I thought we’re getting root beer.”

“We are.” Bucky plops down comfortably.

“And you’re eating _all that_ with it?”

“Hey! I’m sharing this with you, moron.”

“No way. You can enjoy your tooth decay alone, thank you very much.”

Bucky rolls his eyes and puts the bag of candy to his side. “Just go pick a movie, dammit. See, I bought three for you to choose from! I like the Titanic one. A classic, too.” He points at the table with his foot, Toro shoving it away.

Toro arranges the movies and hums. Titanic, Lion King, 50 First Dates. He looks at the cover of the Lion King, noticing the art and assuming it’s an animated film. He hasn’t seen one since friggin’ Bambi in 1943. Although he’s intrigued about the other two that appear to be romance flicks, he’d rather watch the animated one.

Toro swipes the Lion King and tosses it to Bucky’s lap. Bucky blinks in question, but he shrugs.

“Alright,” says Bucky, pitchy, like he’s judging Toro’s choice. There’s nothing wrong with Lion King, Bucky thinks, it’s a good Disney film. He just really isn’t in the mood for an animated movie. Bucky stands up and walks over to the television, setting it up with the DVD player below by connecting cables until the screen lights up bright blue.

“Okay, I’m gonna need you to do this for me.” Bucky turns to Toro with a smile, “See the remote?”

Toro nods, taking the rectangular device with lots of buttons on it from the table. “..Yeah. I’ve used this one before.”

“Great. Push the source button.”

Toro scans through the remote, finding the said button. He clicks it, then a window pops up at the top left of the screen, giving them multiple options.

“Good! You have to click the down button till it highlights the AV option.”

And so, Toro does.

“Click OK.”

“Click OK.” Toro repeats.

_Select language._

“Click OK.”

“Mhm. Click OK.” Toro repeats, again.

The DVD slot opens, and Toro can see Bucky open up the DVD case like a book, popping in the disc and pushing it close. Toro doesn’t even know how hard it was to set up the reels of films before a movie but it certainly wasn’t _this_ fast. The screen goes black, then Bucky jogs to the kitchen to get their root beers. He comes back with them in cans, making Toro wonder when was the time people collectively decided not to use glass bottles as much anymore.

The movie starts up quiet, then the volume goes up as some sort of an ad about piracy plays. Bucky finds the perfect spot to sit on, criss-crossing his legs as he reaches for his candy bag. He offers Toro some of it, and Toro gives in anyway and takes some. M&M’s taste familiar and different at the same time.

As the warning ad fades away, the film intro starts, making Toro lean forward in anticipation. Then, there’s music, there’s animals, there’s super improved animation. He’s _fascinated,_ feeling giddy inside like a child.

Bucky beside Toro notices his increasing grin. Both of them, because of the war, had their teenagehood taken away. He remembers watching Bambi with Toro after a mission when the older Invaders were called in for a meeting, sneaking into a theater where they played reruns from last year’s showing. He remembers 19-year-old Toro — eyes sparkling at every song, tears welling up whenever something emotional happens.

He remembers Toro after the movie, whose hands were in his pockets while his shoulders were raised in enthusiasm.

_“You think I can be an animator once the war’s over, Buck?”_

_“At this point, my friend, nothing’s impossible.”_

_“Hah! Promise, you’d be in the front row on the premiere night. You get a signed poster an’ all.”_

The twinkle in Toro’s eyes is _still_ there, although he evidently didn’t really become an animator. However, Bucky has to admit that Toro’s spontaneous dream was one of the things he held onto over the years, on top of other things that made him miss Toro _terribly._

Bucky and Toro had been good teammates, great _friends_ — but Bucky can’t help but think about the kiss they shared the afternoon before he supposedly died, behind the destroyed motel. He can’t help but wonder if it was a one-time thing for Toro, if he had forgotten and moved on from him like America and everyone else after the war. When Poster Boy Bucky was not needed anymore.

Because _hell,_ at the end of the day, Toro had settled down and married back then — even though they’ve separated now.

Frankly, he’s too afraid to ask.

Bucky watches the film absent-mindedly, sinking into his couch while munching on his chocolate, drowning in his thoughts and what-ifs while Pumba and Timon happily lap on insects.

Just before the movie gets to the part where Joseph Williams and Sally Dworsky sing _Can You Feel The Love Tonight,_ it starts skipping and glitching until it completely freezes. Bucky frowns, looking at Toro who’s equally confused, if not more.

“Sorry,” Bucky apologizes with a sheepish laugh, proceeding to go and check the problem. “Though we’re pretty advanced there’re still _tiny_ problems like this.”

“It’s fine, that’s understandable. I was already impressed by the fact that you can watch movies at home.” Toro reassures, finally opening the can of root beer Bucky had given him earlier.

Toro watches Bucky struggle with a smile of adoration. Bucky blows on the disc for a reason unknown to Toro. He even lifts it towards the light to check it, closing one of his eyes. He carefully wipes it with his shirt, then tries inserting it into the slot again before fast-forwarding the movie to the latest part. Toro was especially blown away by the fast-forward feature.

Yet, it doesn’t work. It lags and pauses at the same time stamp, much to Bucky’s demise.

“Aw, shoot.” Bucky gives up, all crouched down on the carpeted floor with the DVD on his hand. “There’s a scratch that I didn’t notice. That basically means it’s broken… I think it’s because I lent this to Mrs. Porter’s kids last week… they must’ve played with it or whatever.”

Toro clicks his tongue a couple of times. “Well, talk about bad luck right there.”

Bucky sighs, crawling back to the table to get the case. He puts the disc back in a click, snapping it shut. “I can fix it later with some toothpaste but, you wanna watch any of the other two at least?”

Toro purses his lips and shakes his head. He can’t imagine how toothpaste could fix a movie container disc thing. “I’m good,” He pats the space beside him, gesturing to Bucky to go back to where he was. “Why don’t you just tell me, y’know, _things?_ Say, are we finally able to install subway lines underwater?”

“Nope,” replies Bucky, sitting right where Toro had told him to with a grunt, resting an arm on the back rest. He reaches for his root beer with his left hand on second thought. “Don’t think Namor would approve either. It’ll destroy a lot of reefs.”

“Hm.” Toro agrees, rolling his eyes upwards to think. He adjusts his position, turning his body to Bucky more by putting a leg up. “Food’s gotten better though.”

“By 500%. I should bring you to this place downtown, _god_ their food’s absolutely incredible!” Bucky’s face lights up in excitement, motioning his hands around. “They play bands at night too, and– ah, you said you still don’t like modern music, didn’t you?”

Toro shrugs. “I’ve never found any song that I think I like so far. Not that I’ve been looking, anyway.”

Bucky chuckles and stares at Toro, their eyes locking for a moment. With that, both their hearts start racing, perhaps thinking of the same thing:

Is this real? Are they really together again?

For Toro, it was 24 years without Bucky. How many nights did he wish it was him who got taken too early, unable to live without one of the closest people he ever had? The person who kept him sane during long battles and arduous fights. The person he first _promised_ to come back to after they beat the hell out of the Axis. It wasn’t easy, particularly the time when he realized he had lived without Bucky more than the years he’d known him. It didn’t make it easier finding out Bucky was alive all those years, kept away by the Soviets, kept away from _him._

For Bucky, it was longer, although he didn’t remember Toro for the most part. Being brainwashed and experimented on, making him forget who he was, erasing every single important person in his life from his mind. Somehow though, everytime he looked at fire, his heart ached like he was missing something — _someone._ He tried to figure out why, wracking his brain for answers back then, but there was none. Until Steve had brought his memories back and Bucky decided to look for Toro the first thing, only to find a grave in Arlington.

Now that they’re in front of each other, everything registers at once.

Toro breaks the gaze and looks down to Bucky’s left arm silently, reaching for it to caress it. He takes the can off Bucky’s hand, putting it back on the table.

“I’m sorry.” Toro whispers as he feels every narrow gap of the hand, flipping it over to feel Bucky’s metallic palm.

“For what?”

“I wasn’t there to get you out of the water when you needed me the most. If I had been there, this whole HYDRA thing wouldn’t have happened. I would’ve made sure of it.”

“Hey.” Bucky says softly, “Tom, look at me.”

Toro tilts his head up, his sapphire eyes glistening with tears. Bucky exhales and wipes them dry with his other hand.

“It’s okay. I’m okay now. We can’t undo the past.”

“You _revived_ me, stupid.” Toro frowns, making Bucky burst into laughter.

“Huh. I did, didn’t I?” Bucky responds. What Toro doesn’t know is that he told his past self to save himself and get off the rocket before it explodes. He didn’t tell him to bring Toro back to life. Despite that, his past self didn’t think twice and wished for Toro’s life instead. That moment, Bucky realized how much he truly loved Toro.

And that he still _does._

Bucky squeezes Toro’s hand and pats his face, rising up from his seat. He takes a swig of his root beer before walking over to the spare space in his living room, extending his arm towards Toro, as if asking him to join him.

Toro sniffles, raising a brow. “What?”

“C’mere. We’re dancing.” Bucky makes a motion with his hand as an invitation. With his other one, he takes his phone and plays a song that starts with a slow, soothing instrumental. “You’ll like this song.”

Toro gives a decrepit smile, roaming over to Bucky and taking his hand. He _does_ like the music, something calm unlike the others that he heard. He couldn’t even understand what the other artists were saying due to the fast pacing of the music. This one is better, allowing him to soak in the lyrics.

Bucky ends up leading the dance. They swayed gently, learning the right beat and the right time to turn and step. They stare into each other’s eyes, the memory of them dancing in their tents back in the war flooding their minds. Though the song is slow, it feels _electric,_ and both Toro and Bucky realize that dancing in an empty apartment in their t-shirts and socks is better than all the ballrooms and fancy suits _combined._

“I didn’t think they still released songs like this,” Toro mutters, pulling Bucky closer.

Bucky snorts out a chuckle. “The modern world continues to surprise you.”

“What else changed? Besides you getting two inches smaller.” Toro teased, earning him a hard eye roll from Bucky.

“Let’s see, _stilts_. There’s this app called Youtube where you can watch videos from in one click. You can watch it from your phone or your computer… There’s gaming consoles, board games are kinda getting forgotten by kids nowadays… Transportation’s obviously better, though as you can see we _still_ don’t have jet packs for ourselves.”

Toro takes it all in, nodding. “I can’t believe I can – what do you call that, _‘text’_ people. Back in the day we’d have to wait weeks or months for letters to arrive!”

“Right?” Bucky grins, “So you better text me a lot, hotshot.”

“Let me get used to it first. Might take me five more years if that’s fine with you.” Toro crinkles his nose, spinning Bucky as the song comes to a close.

Bucky stares at Toro again, still unable to believe that he’s here, that he’s touching him. The imagery of Toro’s stone grave is still on his mind, reminiscing the times he’d visit it when he couldn’t sleep, or when being Captain America stresses him out too much. Now, Toro’s back right in the flesh. Bucky huffs out softly.

“Also,” Bucky continues as the music fades away gradually. “People of same-sex can get married now.”

Toro pauses. His feet stop moving, perplexed. “What do you mean?”

Bucky shrugs, coming into a halt as well along with the music. “Like, two men. Or two women. They can get married now here in New York. It’s a fairly new law, only taking effect four months ago—”

All of a sudden, Toro presses Bucky onto him and kisses him.

Bucky gets taken aback, but he _can’t_ just stand there and not kiss back. He tiptoes and slides his left hand to Toro’s neck, his right hand still clasping Toro’s. With how close they are, Bucky could feel Toro’s heart practically beating out of his chest, theirs together thrumming like drums in sync. It’s been so long.

Toro pulls away shortly, eyes wide in awestruck. “Really?”

Bucky bobs his head quickly, pecking him on the lips again, not having enough of the man in front. “Really.”

An inaudible wow escapes Toro’s lips, staring on the floor in shock. He remembers the one time he and Bucky had to help two men fend off thugs threatening them behind a Harvey’s bar. They were merely holding hands. If Toro hadn’t shown the ruffians a few fire tricks, they wouldn’t have left the couple alone. That encounter single-handedly made Toro afraid of what was ahead for him and Bucky if they were to get together, and he hadn’t even told Bucky how he felt yet at the time.

This year, a _law_ passed granting marriage equality for people like the guys at Harvey’s, unsure if they’re alive to witness it.

Toro and Bucky, however, are lucky enough.

“Remember when I told you the day we kissed that one day I’d ask you to marry me no matter what, and no matter how long we’d have to wait?”

Bucky jounces his head. “And I said, _Toro, we’d be grandpas by then, if not dead._ ”

“And we’re not dead,” says Toro.

“We’re… grandpas in our late 80’s.” replies Bucky, laughing with Toro.

When their laughter dissipates, and the room falls back into silence, Toro asks breathlessly, the glint in his eyes hinting sincerity despite being a spur-of-the-moment.

“Will you marry me?”

Bucky’s shoulders sag down. He allows his metal hand slip down Toro, his brows creasing together slightly. He’s not sure if he heard that right. “Toro, I– Stop it. You’re _not_ serious, are you?”

“I am.” Toro confirms, holding Bucky’s hand tighter. “Will you marry me, James Buchanan Barnes? Please?”

Bucky closes his eyes, seemingly unconvinced that this is all real. He _just_ got Toro back, and now he’s asking him for his hand in marriage? He shakes his head in disbelief.

But it’s no dream.

He can feel Toro on the tip of his fingers. He has this certain warmth when he doesn’t have his flame on, a bit above human average, but tolerable. It’s like he’s constantly having a low fever of some sort. He can feel his soft, tender hand, like it hadn’t undergone the test of time. Bucky wouldn’t trade this for anything else, and truthfully, he would like to have it for the rest of his life — for better or for worse, in sickness and in health.

“No?” Toro squeaks out upon seeing Bucky turn his head from side to side.

Bucky opens his eyes and looks up. Toro’s expression almost looks like a wet puppy’s, so he heaves another laugh and pecks him, and another and another and another. Bucky peppers Toro’s face with kisses until he hears a low giggle from him.

“Of course. I’ll be your husband, Thomas Raymond.”

“ _Barnes,_ ” Toro retorts, speaking against Bucky’s lips with a smile. “Raymond-Barnes.”

“ _Ugh_ , you’re such a schmaltz. Who taught you how to be like that?”

“You did, dummy. Shut up.”


End file.
